The debris on the road, also known as National Highway 55, was cleared late this evening to allow light vehicles to pass. The landslides took place at Rongtong and Tindharia.

This stretch of the highway had been hit last month by seven major landslides. No vehicular movement had been possible for 15 days. It had then been opened to light vehicles, which had taken the Gayabari-Giddhapahar bypass to Kurseong.

“A road bench collapsed at a place 2 km down from Tindharia. In Rongtong, the mountain walls on the side of the road came crumbling down,” said the Kurseong sub-divisional officer of today’s landslides.

Another minor landslide occurred on the Pankhabari road, which is a steep short cut to Kurseong only for light vehicles. “Traffic on that route was disturbed for about four hours due to a minor landslide in the lower reaches,” Dasgupta said.